CONSTRUCTING AN ONLINE TEACHING IDENTITY FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Constructing an identity as a teacher in the foreign language classroom represents an important step toward creating a positive learning environment in a class structured around blended learning. For teachers who have tapped into elearning as a rich source of learning, building an inspiring, motivational identity in this context is the next step in on-going teacher development for the benefit of distance and local learners. In tandem with investment in an e-learning system, the need to construct a parallel teaching identity becomes paramount. Yet the difficulty resides in verifying that your teaching persona coinhabits these parallel worlds coherently. Student distress with IT has been documented, leaving clear signals that teacher proactivity in this area can have a significant impact on this learning experience. And while research in the area of online teacher identity is rich enough, the specificity of doing just this in the students' non-native language is a twist. Competence in written discourse strategies becomes central to communicating fully when IT, removing the daily face-to-face contact of the typical classroom setting, alters the teacher-student context in learning a foreign language. Issues of emerging multiculturalism are central, with a focus on multicultural understanding of the written word. To further the debate, theories on interpersonal communication, particularly politeness theory, are discussed in light of promoting an intercultural dialogue. This paper further proposes strategies for creating added value in this adventure by enhancing possibilities for teaching and transforming this extra work for the teacher into extraordinary work for the students. As a result, by inhabiting these parallel worlds for the benefit of learners of foreign language and culture, the b-learning experience is enhanced in higher education.